Cold Weather & Mountain School ~ 1955 US Army; The Big Picture TV-340 (Patreon)

more at http://quickfound.net/

'Deep in the heart of the Alaskan wilderness, a picked group of soldiers climbs the rugged peaks and glaciers of the far north. These are soldiers of the United States Army attending a unique school -a tough, rough, demanding school specializing in equipping troops to live and fight under Arctic conditions. This week THE BIG PICTURE joins a class of volunteers at the U.S. Army Cold Weather and Mountain School. Travel along with us as these soldiers learn mountaineering, rope bridge construction, and other skills in one of the world's most hostile environments.'

1962 version: https://vimeo.com/342281962

Originally a public domain film, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.

The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Warfare_Training_Center

Wikipedia license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

The Northern Warfare Training Center (NWTC) is the name of a United States Army Alaska (USARAK) special skills training unit and facility located in Black Rapids, Alaska, managed out of Fort Wainwright. It is the Active Army's only cold region training proponent.

Arctic, subarctic, and mountain environments are brutally unforgiving to the unprepared. Units that have successfully fought in these environments have historically been those with special individual skills, are physically and mentally tough, and have extensive experience and expertise operating in harsh conditions...

NWTC History

...Training for extended operations in cold and mountainous areas was initiated in November 1941 with the activation of the 87th Mountain Infantry and the Mountain and Winter Warfare Board at Fort Lewis, Washington. Training and testing were conducted by these organizations at Mount Rainier, Washington throughout the winter of 1941 - 1942. These units were later to become the nucleus for the first cold weather and mountain training center to be established by the U.S. Army.

While the 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment was undergoing training at Mount Rainier, plans were being made and a site was being selected for a division-sized center for cold weather and mountain warfare training. In 1942, the Mountain Training Center, with members of the 87th Mountain Infantry as a cadre, opened at Camp Hale...

Training of the 10th Mountain Division for its future role of fighting in the mountains of Italy was the prime accomplishment of the Mountain Training Center during World War II. However, this was not the only training conducted by the Center...

At the end of World War II, the mission of the Mountain Training Center at Camp Hale was moved to Camp Carson, Colorado. Camp Carson was the only U.S. Army Center for this type of training until 1948, when the decision was made to organize a school for arctic operations at Big Delta, Alaska later named Fort Greely.

In November 1948, the Army Arctic School was established at Big Delta with the primary mission of providing instruction in summer and winter operations under arctic and sub-arctic conditions. This training included arctic survival, mountaineering, skiing, and solutions to tactical, technical and logistical problems in cold regions. In July 1949, the Army Arctic School was redesignated the Army Arctic Indoctrination School, with no change in the mission.

For approximately eight years, training in mountain and cold weather operations were conducted simultaneously at Camp Carson, Colorado and Fort Greely, Alaska. However, in 1957, the total responsibility for cold weather and mountain training was transferred to Alaska. The Arctic Indoctrination School was redesignated the U.S. Army Cold Weather and Mountain School and was given the mission of developing cold weather and mountain warfare doctrine, tactics and techniques, and training individuals in these subjects

Throughout the years as the Arctic School, Arctic Indoctrination School, and Cold Weather and Mountain School, training was conducted on an individual basis. Students from reserve component and active Army units throughout the continental United States were graduated as instructors in cold weather and mountain operations. However, early in 1963, the Department of the Army concluded that the training in cold weather and mountain operations would be of more beneficial to units than individual training.

Therefore, in April 1963, the U.S. Army Cold Weather and Mountain School was redesignated the U.S. Army Northern Warfare Training Center and given the mission of training individuals as well as units in the conduct of warfare in cold and mountainous regions...